My Life's Story
by D4YBR34K
Summary: A story of Elsword's journey, the elf he learns to befriend, and the purple demon he's now forced to cooperate with. Rated T to be safe.
1. Prologue: The Day She Left

_Hey everyone._

_This story is very much a work in progress. The only reason I'm even posting this now is so I can constantly remind myself to work on it. Updates won't be very predictable, but I'll be working on this as much as I can. I hope you like it!_

* * *

**Prologue: The Day She Left**

I can see them. The man's tall, black figure stands prominently against the forest behind him. He's watching her. I can see the hostility shining out of his eyes like fire. _She _holds her ground, watching him from the other end of the forest. She holds her sword behind her; not on the defense but not pushing an attack either. They continue their stare down for another ten seconds. Then the man acts. He lunges forward and makes a quick thrust with his sword. The girl brings her sword up quickly, deflecting most of the attack, though it still throws her off balance a little. That small bit of delay gives the man an opening though. He twists his sword and cuts a wide arc in front of the girl, as if drawing a curved line in sand. The girl, already at a disadvantage, uses all the force she can muster to intercept his blade with hers. She barely makes it, and the force of the blow knocks her to the ground. The man raises up his weapon for one last strike. . .

But he doesn't make it. I don't let him. I raise up my wooden sword and charge straight at him. As his strike comes down on the girl, I blast my sword into his chest, the impact knocking him back a little.

His attack doesn't stop though. I've left myself wide open with my charge, and his sword slices into my defenseless back. My vision greys instantly and I'm sent rolling to the side. I hear another sickening sound, one of metal tearing into flesh. Some words are exchanged, but I'm not listening. Some time passes before I hear something that catches my attention.

"Hey. Nice job back there."

It's the girl. I raise my head and look at her. She's as perfect as ever; neat red hair falling nicely over her shoulders, a body which any girl wound envy, strength I could never hope to match, and a smile which would make anyone forget any troubles they ever had.

"Sis. . ." I say, surprised at how tired and raspy my voice sounds.

"Come on," she says, lifting me up and supporting me with her shoulder. "Let's go get you patched up."

My name is Elsword. I've been living with my sister for as long as I can remember. I'm not quite sure what happened to either of my parents, but I don't end up thinking about it much. My sister means almost everything to me. It's because of her that I want to be a swordsman. I remember she used to be against me learning it, but once she saw I was determined, she started taking me out every day to train. Today was different. I was feeling a little hungrier than normal at breakfast, so she went out before me. When I finished up, I walked to our normal training grounds only to find her battling with that man.

"Sis," I ask as we walk. "Who was he?"

"He said his name is Scar," she answers. "He was looking for our father."

"Well he won't come back again, right? He wouldn't after being beaten so badly by you, right?"

She smiles at me. "Yeah," she says. "He's not coming back here."

Content with this answer, we finish our walk back.

Our home is pretty ordinary. It's a lone, two story cabin in the woods, with a small village nearby. My sister walks into the kitchen to find the lunch she prepared for us while I go upstairs to change my clothes. My cut stings whenever I move it, but I try and tough it out. It's my first real injury I've gotten from a fight, and I'm proud of it. After changing, I walk back downstairs. My sister's sitting at the table with the food in front of her. She's chewing on a piece of her hair, meaning she's thinking hard about something.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

"Nothing, really," she answers.

"What are you thinking about?"

She ignores my question.

"Hey Els," she asks, slowly. "Do you remember how to lock the house if I'm not home?"

"Yeah," I answer, not sure why she's asking. "Front and back door, and all the first floor windows."

"Right," she says. "And you remember the way to Ruben village?"

"It's in the direction of the first tree we pass when we head out the front door."

She nods.

"Why are you asking me this?"

"Well. . . I guess that man showing up this morning worried me. Now what do you do when someone you don't know shows up at the door?"

"You don't open it. Sis, I know all this stuff already!"

"I know, I'm just making sure you haven't forgotten. And for the last time, eat your vegetables! You'll stay short forever if you don't!"

"That's not true!" I yell, taking a big bite into the leg of mutton in front of me. "Meat makes you stronger!"

She sighs. "Just make sure you eat some green things every now and then, okay?"

I sigh back. "Fine."

Night comes quickly. After washing up, I get into my pajamas and hop into bed. I can still hear Sis rummaging around downstairs. She's probably making our lunch for tomorrow. I think about what we're going to do tomorrow. I hope it involves swords. Recently, we've been focusing on nothing but dodging. Elesis (that's my sister's actual name, in case you didn't know.) has been trying to teach me how to close in on someone while avoiding their attacks at the same time. She can do it by crouching and sliding, and she's gotten to where she can move a really long way while doing it. I always mess it up though. Every time I try and slide like her, I end up tripping over my feet and falling. She says it wouldn't hurt as bad if I tried to roll every time I tripped, so I guess I'll try doing that in the future.

Suddenly, I hear a clatter in the next room over. I must've fallen asleep, because it's totally dark outside. I get out of my bed and walk to my sister's room. I slowly open the door without knocking.

"Sis?" I ask, walking in.

She turns her head towards me, and gives me a look I can't quite figure out. Both upset and happy at the same time. On the ground next to her is her sword and sheath, the cause of the noise.

Suddenly, she steps towards me and wraps her arms around my head. "Hey Els. I love you. No matter what happens, always remember that. All right?"

I don't really understand what's happening, but I nod. "Yeah. I know."

"Good," she whispers before finally letting me go. Now get some more sleep, okay? It's late, you'll be tired tomorrow."

I nod and walk back to my room. Had I known how significant an action that was, I never would have left her side.

* * *

_Well, if you're reading this, I guess you at least somewhat enjoyed it! Please let me know what you think, any extra motivation to work on this is always appreciated. It could be a while before the next one, but I'll be trying my best!_


	2. 1: The First Day of the Rest of My Life

_Hello everyone. I'm s__orry to keep you waiting for so long, here's the official first chapter._

* * *

**Chapter 1: The First Day of the Rest of My Life**

_ "Have you ever heard the stories of the legendary Captain of the Red Knights, with hair like a flame and her heart full of fire? That's my sister. When I was still a kid, she made me promise that I would train every day, to build up my strength and skill with a sword. The training paid off and I soon became the youngest member of the El Explorers. My sister though. . . what happened to her?" _

It's been two years since that day. After being accepted into the Explorers, I was asked if I would like a place to stay that's a little closer to their base of operations. It gets lonely in the house without my sister there, so I accepted. Since then, I've been living in a type of dorm with a few other members. All that's been my new reality until today. . .

I grunt. The sun shining through the window hurts my eyes. I toss the covers off and slide out of bed. I'm not sure why, but for whatever reason, waking up early in the morning has gotten less and less desirable as I grow older. My stomach growls. It's been a full. . . ten hours since I last ate. Hurriedly, I leave my room and head into the kitchen.

After getting changed and eating, I walk outside. Lots of our members, all in uniform, are completing their daily training routines. I walk by them, watching them go at it. Something seems strange though. They all seem to be putting in extra effort today. A person who stopped for a break after 20 push-ups yesterday is now popping out 40 like it's nothing. He loudly yells "Forty!" after he's done too. It's not as if anyone here tends to slack off, but they're definitely doing more than normal.

_"Buncha idiots,"_ I think. _"Someone important must be here and they want to look good."_ Curious, I walk over to Lowe's office. Lowe and his ancestors have been leading the El Explorers ever since their founding, and I guess they do an okay job. Today, there's a man I've never seen before standing inside, with Lowe, looking exhausted, sitting in a chair nearby.

"Rookie!" he yells once I walk inside. He practically jumps out of his chair and slams his hands on his desk. "Where have you been?! You were needed out there today!"

"Hey, nobody told me that!" I spit back defiantly. "I know I'm good at lots of things, but mind reading isn't one of them, so if you need me, then send someone to. . . . . . to get me. . . ."

What stopped me from continuing was an icy glare from the other man in the room. He's tall, with long black hair and dulled iron armor. I notice the crest of Velder embroidered into his clothing.

"Watch your tongue," he says quietly. Despite the fact he's not speaking loud, his voice has an edge to it which shows his great distaste for me. We're silent for a moment.

"A-Anyway," Lowe says after a while, trying to break the tension. "Rookie. Banthus has been spotted around the Tree of El. The locals are worried about it, so we want you out there right away."

"Why haven't you sent any of the others after him?" I ask.

"W-Well," Lowe says, looking embarrassed. "We've tried chasing him, but he's given us the slip every time."

"WHAT?!" I yell out, unconsciously slamming the edge of my sword into the ground. "Were you all SLEEPING or something?!"

"Quiet!" He yells. "We did the best we could under the circumstances! I'm assigning you to go out there and see what you find!"

I start to respond, but that armored man's gaze stops me again.

"Get going," the man says, again sounding like he'll rush forward and stab me.

Something about him just ticks me off. Infuriated, I turn and walk out of the office.

* * *

**Two hours later**

I push through all the undergrowth surrounding the tree as I walk towards the base of it. Nothing's happened so far, except I've finally found something which looks interesting. There's a tall white rat walking around with a green bandana wrapped around its neck. They're called phorus, and this one looks pretty young. But you usually don't see them around here.

"Hey, phoru!" I yell out, waving my hand to flag it down.

It looks up at me questioningly.

"What are you doing around here? I've never seen phorus around here before."

In a squeaky voice, it responds: "I saw a strange creature I've never seen around here before, just walking around!" It lets out an annoying little screech. "I just had to get a closer look, you know? But it's gone now. . . I'm not sure where it went."

"Are you sure you didn't just run because a butterfly spooked you?"

It screeches again several times. "No! No! I am no coward! You may think I am a coward, but I am not! It was like one of our tribe's elders! Purple marks and everything, you know? But really tall and scary, it was!" Another screech. "I lost it while I was following it around the tree! It moves fast, you know? Very fast!" Screech.

"I'll try and keep an eye out for it then," I tell him.

"That's good, human! Remind him where our village is when you find him! That way he doesn't get lost, you know? Phoru is good, you know?" The phoru screeches one last time, then dashes off. Good thing too, because I don't think my ears could take much more of that.

"And people wonder why we don't like phorus so much. . ."

When I finally start to climb the tree, things start to get interesting. When sneaking through the bushes, I noticed that lots of them had been pushed aside and climbed over already. Looking forward, I see some men walking around. They're not talking to each other, and they're wearing strange masks. There are also a few of the animals who normally live around here walking beside them. They look a little like pets.

"Hey!" I yell out at them. "Who are you?"

The men jolt at the sound of my voice, then turn and, hesitating for a moment, they start to run at me. They have nothing on them but tiny knives. The first one starts to get close to me, but I whip out my sword and bash him on the head. He falls limply to the ground right away, making the other one stop in his tracks. Moving right along, I run at the other one, and drop him in two hits. The animals have fled to some other spot already, so I don't worry about them.

I bend down and clean my sword in the grass. There's almost no blood on it, despite the solid hit I dealt to the first man. For some reason, the El Explorers use swords which are more suited to bashing things like a club than cutting, so we never really have to worry about killing people.

Once it's nice and polished, I move through the interior of the great tree, having similar experiences all the way through it.

_"This isn't normal,"_ I think. _"Why would robbers be at the Tree of El? What could they hope to gain?"_

After a while, I reach the top of the tree. The first thing I notice is the large, gleaming crystal proudly displayed on a wooden pedestal near the edge.

_"The El Fragment,"_ I think. _"The life-giver of Ruben village."_ That crystal alone makes life here possible. Without it, we would be in the middle of a wasteland right now. I don't understand all of it, but it's fair enough to say that this crystal keeps the village alive.

The second thing I notice is a large man standing in front of the pedestal. Two others stand beside him, but I ignore them. They're almost exactly the same as the men I fought off earlier. It's the big man I'm interested in.

"Banthus!" I yell out.

The man looks over his shoulder. His matted orange hair falls next to his eye as he sizes me up. Recognizing my uniform, he calls out, "You're too late, kid!" He pulls his massive sword off his back and turns to face me.

Invigorated by his confident response, I draw my sword and dash at him. I hold it with both hands and swing up at him from below. He steps to the side to dodge it, then knocks me down with a powerful kick.

"Cocky little freak!" I yell at him, spitting as I jump back to my feet.

He laughs in response, making a taunting motion with his hand.

I get up and race towards him again, putting even more muscle into this next attack. He stoops to block it with his sword, but my attack is stronger than he thought. I can see the shocked expression on his face as I knock his sword out of my way and send mine sailing into his ribs. He grunts and steps away quickly, gripping his sword with both hands now. Once he's got his footing, he runs at me and jumps high into the air. Not expecting this, I look up, blinded by his silhouette against the sun.

"You're just a little brat!" he yells, bringing his sword crashing down from above.

Desperate, I use that technique Sis taught me about dodging. Of course, like always, I end up tripping, nearly dropping my sword in the process. I'm used to this now though. I twist my body before hitting the ground, and I roll about a meter before coming up on my feet. I'm behind him now.

"And you-" I yell, firmly planting my feet beneath me and holding my sword with both hands. "Are NOTHING!"

I bring my sword forward, seeing red lines behind it and hearing a loud crash when it connects. It's the first thing I ever learned from the El Explorers, taught to me by Lowe himself. That famous technique all of the Explorers knew: the Mega Slash.

I hit him on the back of his knee. He staggers a few steps away from me before his leg goes out and he drops to the ground.

"Little punk," he grunts, trying to use his sword to support himself. "If you think you're going to stop me here, you're sorely mistaken!"

I hear a crash behind me and turn to see what must be the monster I heard about before from the phoru. It's huge and muscular, covered in white fur from head to toe. It roars at me and shows its fangs. Forgetting about Banthus, I raise my sword above my head to block its claw from hitting me. The power behind the blow drops me to my knees, but I don't buckle. Once it lets up the pressure, I rise up and dive at it, slamming it with my sword. The impact sends the thing back a few steps, but doesn't damage it too much. It turns to face me again and lowers its head. I only barely have time to react before it charges at me. I leap away just in time to feel the wind brush past my face as it races by. I turn and see it slam into the wall behind me. It steps back, shakes its head, then turns to face me again.

"I'm gonna kill you. . ." I whisper under my breath.

The creature reaches out and takes a swipe at me with its left arm. I duck, then jump at its chest and hit it as hard as I can. The creature loses its balance and falls on its back, leaving it momentarily defenseless.

"Got you now!" I yell, jumping onto its chest. I swing my sword far to the right and bring it crashing into the creature's face.

I take a few seconds to catch my breath. The creature definitely won't be bothering anybody for a while. I sigh and step down, dragging my sword along the ground. I'm pretty tired after that.

"All right," I say, looking over to Banthus. "Now for the fun par-"

I stop. Banthus isn't there anymore. I look over to the El Fragment. He's standing by the pedestal, the gigantic gem under his arm. With a sinister grin, he jumps off the edge of the tree and lands in the forest below. He must have only been faking that injury before.

"You son of a-!" I race over to the edge and look down. "Get back here you coward!" I scream at him. I jump down using the same path he did and land in the woods. I see his tracks in the ground and charge after him, not caring about the weeds or thorns scraping me as I run. I do as well as I can through the unforgiving terrain, but pushing aside this many leaves every second is too hard. My head smacks into a branch hanging above me and I fall to the ground.

"Stupid tree," I grumble, rubbing my head as I stand up. Looking ahead, I don't see Banthus, and the sounds of him running are mixed with the other sounds of the forest. Grunting, I continue my chase (even though I don't even know if I'm going in the right direction anymore).

As I run, a thought comes to me. _"Why would he steal the El Shard? That bastard's gonna kill everyone in the village by doing that!"_ I pick up my pace, determined to stop Banthus, but then I come across one of the most unnatural things I've ever seen.

Imagine a meadow. Imagine the prettiest, brightest, most energy-filled meadow you'll ever see. But now imagine it completely frozen over. _Everything_. The grass, no longer alive, but instead sterile, crystallized needles. The sky, not blue, but a hazy grey. Even by my feet, there laid two dragonflies who'd been frozen mid-flight. And in the center of it all. . . was a creature of your nightmares.

It was huge. Banthus was big, but this thing was more than double his height, with more bulk on his frame than should even be possible. His eyes were glowing such a bright blue, you felt as if a spear had just pierced your chest when he looked at you. He had teeth almost the size of my leg, with frost coming out at every breath. And his claws were so big, sharp, and shiny, you could mistake them for finely polished glass.

"Who are you. . ." I ask. My voice is so quiet, it's barely a whisper. Despite that, the creature turns towards me and glares right into my eyes.

"An enemy." The sound of his voice sends chills down my spine. I suddenly feel as if I want to throw up.

"And you're one of them," he continues, his voice tearing through the very fabric of my reality. "The El Explorers. You've come to retrieve your crystal from the bandit."

"Why do you know about that?!" I demand.

The creature makes a deep sound, almost like laughing, but not quite. "They really sent a _child_ after the El."

I'm not sure if I'm filled with courage or just too scared to think straight, but I raise my voice. "I'll make you eat those words!" I scream at him.

It makes another one of those sounds, definitely laughing now. In a more gravely tone, it answers, "Sorry little kid. . . but the El Shard is staying-"

"Pft!" I spit. "That shard is a village treasure, and no crappy little dog's gonna keep me from it! Tell me where to find it!"

The beast smirks. "If you value your life even a little, turn bac-"

"SHUT UP!" I scream. Blasting off the ground, I thrust my sword at his chest, smashing it into him with everything I have.

The creature lets out a grunt of surprise and staggers backwards a step or two. Glaring back at me, it crouches a little lower to the ground, the light in its eyes glowing so bright, it hurts to look at. A frigid mist starts to come out of its mouth and I can see icicles forming on the tips of its fangs. I grip my sword tighter, prepared for a fight, when strangely, it relaxes.

"Heheh," it laughs. "Kids these days." It makes that same annoying, laugh-like sound it did before. "Tell you what," he says, smirking. "You can go after your precious shard for now. I'll enjoy watching you." As he turns and starts walking away, he adds, "Fight me when you're older." A portal opens up in front of him, and in an explosion of lightning and shadows, he's gone.

The ice starts to melt once he's away. Relieved, I drop to my knees, all the adrenaline which was keeping me standing now gone in an instant. _"What was that thing?!"_ I think. Nausea hits me like a wave as I try to recall it. _"Why did it ever come here?!"_

It takes me about a minute to get over my terror, and then I start thinking back to my immediate problem. _"Banthus. That's right, he's still got the Fragment. I need to stop him!"_

"You're lucky I showed up when I did! There's no telling what that thing could have done to you."

"Hrmm," I grumble aloud. "I have no idea which direction he's going in though. I may have to head back and tell Lowe I lost him. . ."

"That's. . . just fine. You really don't need to thank me. . . at all."

I suddenly realize something. There's a person behind me. I spin around and draw my sword quickly. "You!" I yell. "You're one of those bandits, aren't you?! What did you do with our El Fragment?!"

The person is a girl with dark purple hair. She carries a staff with her, and looks to be around my age. And she's mad. _Really_ mad. She clenches her fists around the staff before retorting.

"Bandit?!" she screams. "I'M the one who just saved your sorry behind from that monster earlier!"

"Ha! Saved me?! You didn't do a thing! I bet that monster would've turned you into mincemeat if you ran into it alone!"

"How dare you! I'll have you know that even the worst mage is more powerful than a blockhead swinging around a crummy metal sheet!"

"And you would know because you've had lots of experience being the worst mage, huh?!"

"Shut up, short stuff!"

"Make me, snot rag!"

The girl, whose face is turning red, reaches out and smacks me with her staff.

"Graaah!" I yell. "What was that about?!"

"You need some manners when you approach a lady!"

"Lady? What lady?! I only see a tomboy!"

"Tomboy?! Are you blind, you stupid bed-wetting kid?!"

"Who are you calling a kid?!" I yell again. "You're no older than I am! I bet you're even still using a training bra!"

"You little- YOU'VE GOT SOME NERVE!"

"You started it!"

"Shut up!"

A new voice intervened. "IF YOU TWO DON'T KNOCK IT OFF THIS INSTANT, I'LL SEND MY FOOT SO FAR UP YOUR ASS IT'LL KNOCK YOUR SPINE OUT OF PLACE!"

". . ."

". . ."

That shut us up. We both turned to look at the owner of this mysterious new voice. It was a woman, tall with greenish-blonde hair. She had pointy ears, so she probably wasn't human, and she carried a bow on her back. She put her hands on her hips and looked exasperated.

"Honestly," she sighed. "I've been trying to get a hold of you for five minutes."

I noticed the whiner sulked a little when she said that.

"Anyway," the woman continues, looking at me. "Your uniform is that of the El Explorers, correct? Although you're only a boy."

"Yeah," I answer. "And who the heck are you?"

"I am Rena from the village of the Elves. Our people have noticed a peculiar loss of energy from the forest of this area. Something's happened and I need to find out what. Do you know anything that can help?"

"I know what happened," I say. "A thief named Banthus just stole the giant El Fragment from the Tree of El."

"The El Fragment?!" she exclaims. She calms herself down, then continues. "I see. If you don't mind then, would you take me back to the village you came from? I would like to speak with the chief, if he'd allow it."

"I guess," I answer. "It's called Ruben Village. It isn't too far from here."

"Wonderful!" Rena squeals in delight. "And you," she says, turning to the annoying girl. "Will you come with us?"

The bratty girl nods, then mutters, "I was going to go there anyway. . ."

` We start to walk. As we go, the Elf-lady asks, "By the way! I don't know who you two are. Mind telling me?"

"I'm Elsword," I answer. "I live around here."

"And I'm Aisha," the bratty girl says indignantly. "Traveling mage."

"Well, Elsword, Aisha," Rena says happily. "I think we're going to have lots of fun times together!"

* * *

_AN:_

_And there you have it! _

_You'd be surprised at how long I had to dig through Elsword's old stuff in order to get all this perfect. A fair chunk of the dialogue in that last part was pulled straight from the old tutorials. (Did you know that they had the implemented the original translations, but then after a while decided that they needed to be cencored a bit? Yeah, training bra didn't fly too well with NA KoG and got changed to "Gum on the ground." Then the whole tutorial got overhauled and it didn't matter anymore. Minor plot issue though: In Elsword's original tutorial, he fights Berthe and Berthe gives him back the El Shard, only to have it stolen again by bandits (I think?). That really doesn't work out in the context of the rest of the story though. Other noticable issues were:_

_\- Elsword's and Aisha's tutorial told VASTLY different versions of the encounter with Berthe. In Elsword's, Aisha just happens to be there at the last second, in Aisha's, she does everything. Seeing as this story is from Elsword's perspective, I decided to use his._

_\- There are actually two El Shards. One in Ruben Village, one in the Tree of El. The bandits planned to steal the village shard, then steal the tree shard in the resulting chaos. Since two shards makes their reason for setting out on the journey almost invalid, I changed it to one shard for both, housed in the Tree of El._

_\- The canon plotline goes [Village shard stolen - Battle with Berthe/Village shard recovered - Els, Aisha, and Rena meet - Tree shard stolen]. But Rena's tutorial had Elsword run off the second he learned the bandits had a plan to steal the tree shard. This had to be scrapped since a) I needed there to be only one shard and b) In my sequence of events, the theft of the tree shard comes first. Confused? So am I._

_Other characters will be introduced when I think it's best. Lu and Ciel WILL be in this story. Currently waiting for my guinea pi- I mean, friend, to tell me which class they should be. Next chapter has been in the works for a while now. Adams was not even given a second's consideration when making that chapter. Poor guy._

_Also, in case you couldn't tell: I absolutely love Berthe. He is the boss above all bosses. Thank you, and I hope to update this again soon!_


	3. 2: Our Journey Begins

_[Insert excuse about this being late here]_

_I'm not very timely, all right?!_

* * *

**2: Our Journey Begins**

Morning again. After staying huddled under my covers for thirty minutes after I woke up, I finally climb out of bed. Once I'm dressed and ready, I walk to the office to check in with Lowe, as I always do. He tells me there are no real tasks for me today, and tells me the training regiment he expects me to do before tonight.

"Also, Rookie," he adds as I start to walk out. "Stay close. I'll need you back in this office by around 3 PM."

"Got it," I say, leaving. "I wonder what's happening today," I ask myself once I'm away. In any case, I'd better not forget.

* * *

**Two hours later**

I finish the training rather quickly. It's still pretty early, meaning I have the rest of the day of the day to goof off. Finding nothing interesting to do at camp, I walk to Ruben. It's a quiet little village, with its inhabitants mainly consisting of families with children and retired old folks. As I walk in, I stumble upon a strange sight in the town square. All right, so imagine a half-sized human. Now imagine that they're made out of wood. Now imagine that they don't have any ankles, knees, elbows, shoulders, or necks, with the spots those parts would normally be filling left entirely empty, their frame only held together by magic. Add leaves for hair and the odd branch sticking out here and there, and you've got yourself a tree knight. I see them occasionally when I venture into the forest, but it's rare to see them in town. There are four of them in front of me, one green, one pink, one white, and one that's a mix of yellow and red. They're quite the squad.

"Tree knights!" The green one calls out, raising his wooden lance high above his head. "Be at ease! We rest here tonight!" The other three also raise their lances in an awkward salute, then they all relax.

"What the heck are you all doing?" I ask once they seem to be done.

"Us, my lad?" The green knight answers, in an overdramatic voice that's. . . well. . . very knightly. "We are but humble tree knights, on a pilgrimage to the great source of life, the Tree of El! My name is Viride, and I am the leader of our company!"

"My name is Sakura," the pink one says, with a voice that's _very _clearly male. "And I hail from the far east!"

"I am Frigus," said the white one, female. "I salute you from the icy seas of Hamel!"

"And my name is Amber!" the yellow one declares, this one also sounding female. "Where I come from, joy and happiness are swallowed by fire and lava!"

"Sounds pretty depressing," I say, not really caring too much. "Sorry to tell you though, but the El's been stolen."

The tree knights instantly recoil at the news. Amber drops her lance and has to quickly pick it back up again.

"Pray, this cannot be!" Viride says with astonishment. "Surely the great symbol of peace and harmony has not been made off with!"

"It has," I assure him. Messing with them is proving to be pretty entertaining. "It was just the other day too."

"Milord!" Frigus calls out, filled with a sudden burst of valor. "I say we take it upon ourselves to stop this thief at all costs!"

"Peace, Frigus," Viride says calmly. "We must consider our actions very carefully. If in any way we err, it is not only our own lives we could lose. The peace, nay, the very livelihood of this village is at stake! A rash move could bring to ruin more than we can fathom."

"I agree with Frigus, sir!" adds Sakura. "What kind of knights would we be if we allowed this evil to run rampant, even though these people are not our own?"

"Too true," Viride mutters to himself. "It is a knight's duty to protect all in need of aid, be they his kin or not!"

They're all so serious about this it makes me want to laugh.

"Then we shall find this thief and bring him to justice?" asks Amber.

"That we shall!" declared Viride, swinging his lance far to the side as he said so. "Knights," He yells out, raising it above his head again. "We march!"

The other three raise their lances above their heads and yell. Then the odd procession bumbles its way out to the forest.

"They're weird," I mutter after they're gone.

* * *

**Four hours later**

A couple hours later, I walk back to Lowe's office. I'm a bit late, but who's gonna care? I step inside and immediately feel the urge to leave again. Standing with Lowe is the elf from yesterday, Rena.

"Rookie!" Lowe calls out to me. "I have a very important task for you!"

I grumble. Rena smiles.

"This woman here is Rena. She's an elf who was dispatched from the forest to find out why it was losing power."

Lowe pauses and Rena begins to speak. "With the El gone, our forest isn't the only thing that'll suffer. We need to track it down quickly for the good of everyone and everything living around here!"

After she's done, Lowe confirms what I'm going to be doing. "Rookie," he says. "Your task is to travel with Rena until you succeed in recovering the El Fragment."

Well, no point in arguing with him. He'd just yell at me, and Rena might decide to join him. Instead, I ask a more relevant question. "How long do you think it'll take?"

"Given what we know about Banthus, I'd say a few months, most likely. It'll be hard to bring him in." Lowe pauses, then looks over me and Rena.

"Our whole village is counting on your success," he reminds us. "I don't know where this journey will lead you, but I'm sure that you'll come out all right." He listens to see if either of us have something to say, but we don't. With all that out of the way, he dismisses us, and we walk outside the camp together.

The second we're away, Rena hugs me tightly, almost choking me.

"Elsword!" she squeals. "It's so good to see you again! Did you sleep well?"

I shove her away and step back. "Yeah, I slept great! Now don't ever do that again, cougar lady!"

She looks hurt now. I feel moderately guilty, but I ignore that and change the subject.

"Anyway! When will we be ready to go?"

"Oh! Once I pick up one last little thing that we need! I left it at the inn."

"Is it food or something. . . ?" I ask. I don't know why, but I've got a bad feeling about this.

Rena smiles. "Just a little package! We'd better hurry and get it."

"Fine. Lead the way."

We arrive at the Inn. Rena talks to the lady at the counter and walks over to a room. She knocks on the door and says sweetly: "We ready to go?"

"Yeah! Just a minute!" a voice from inside says. I'm confused. I thought we were picking up a package. Suddenly a terrible thought strikes me.

_"Rena. . . she wouldn't try and bring that other girl from yesterday along, would she?"_

The door opens. It _is_ her. She steps out, all smiles, then stops dead in her tracks once she sees me.

"You?!" we both yell out at the same time.

"What's he doing here?!" Aisha asks Rena. "I thought you said he wasn't coming with us!"

"Weeeeeeell," Rena says, looking pleased with herself. "I never said he _wasn't _coming with us, I said that if all went well, we shouldn't even see him before we left." She doesn't even try to hide her smile now. "And, you see, this village's El Fragment has been stolen! All is clearly not well!"

Aisha grits her teeth and glares at me. I continue to protest.

"I'm not traveling with her!" I yell defiantly. "If I wanted a terrible time, I could've asked Lowe for additional training!"

"Now, now," Rena says lightly. "You two need to shape up. We'll never learn to get along if you won't even try."

* * *

**Six hours later**

"All right!" Rena says happily after coming to a clearing in the forest. "I think we should stop here for tonight."

"Here?" Aisha asks. "But. . . there's not a hotel anywhere around here!"

Rena laughs at her. "Elsword, see if you can find any firewood around here."

I nod and walk off.

It's been pretty exhausting. With Rena leading us, we haven't stopped even once since leaving Ruben. My feet hurt, but I don't fuss about it. Long walks are one of the first things you get used to in the El Explorers, so I'm not unfamiliar with it. The book nerd, on the other hand, was a different story. If she wasn't complaining about being tired, it was about the heat. Or bugs. Or being thirsty. Or needing to sit down. Rena offered to carry her about two-thirds of the way through, and though Aisha declined, she seemed to stop whining after that. The heat _is_ noticeable though. We're heading to the White Mist Swamp, the area the bandits always hide out. We're not quite there yet, but the air has already gotten musty, and the ground feels a bit less stable.

I take a look around for wood. Most of it is wet, but I find enough dry pieces to suit our needs. After collecting an armful of it, I walk back. Aisha's sitting down with a book on her lap, looking around at the forest. Rena is on the ground, drawing a circle in the mud with a stick. I decide to walk over to her.

"Where do you want these?" I ask, peeking around the firewood.

"Right here is fine," she answers. I drop the wood in the circle and the two of us construct a nice pile of it. Aisha watches us but doesn't come over.

"Aisha dearest!" Rena calls out in an almost mocking tone. "Would you please come over here and light this for us?"

Aisha gets the fire lit without much difficulty, and we have a decent sized flame going in minutes. We all pull a log around the fire and sit, the journey having tired us.

"So," Rena says after about ten minutes of nobody saying anything. "Tell me a bit about yourselves. I don't really know much about you."

Since Grapehead doesn't say anything for a few seconds, I begin. I tell them mainly about the Explorers and notable things I did in Ruben. I also tell them a bit about Sis, but not too much. After I'm done, Aisha starts to talk.

"Well," she begins. "My name's Aisha, and I'm a mage. Um. . . I used to go to a really fancy academy for mages, but one day I lost all my powers and had to quit."

_"SUUUURE you did,"_ I think. _"I'm actually the king of Velder, but one day I lost my robes and had to quit."_

I must've laughed or something, because now she's glaring at me. She lets it go though, and continues.

"In any case, I've been on a journey to try and find my lost powers. I only happened to be passing by when I ran into you two."

"Interesting," Rena says, looking at Aisha with the kind of curiosity you'd expect from a toddler. "What took your powers?"

"It was a ring. . . I found it in the school one day and didn't know it was special."

"I see. Did none of your teachers or friends try to help you get them back?"

Aisha hesitates for a moment. "Yes," she says. "They tried, but in the end, nobody was able to do anything. I decided to leave the school soon afterward."

We're all quiet for a while. I look up at the stars, and the other two follow my gaze.

"The constellations look beautiful tonight," Aisha says.

"They do," Rena agrees, then points to one section. "Look, do you see the fox?"

"Erm. . . Ah, there it is! Wow, it's so bright tonight!"

I sigh. I can never understand what the hell people are talking about when they're spotting constellations. All I ever see are dots. Grunting, I stand up.

"I'm gonna go to bed," I say. The other two wish me good night, and I lie down behind the log I sat on. Before I close my eyes, I look up into the sky one last time.

_"Stupid fox,"_ I think after failing to find its constellation again. _"Anyone with half a brain knows you don't really exist."_

* * *

It's hot when I wake up. I get up off the ground and have a look around. It's white. The fog's come in so thickly, I have to strain my eyes to see thirty feet ahead of me. I guess it's called White Mist Swamp for a reason. It also feels really early. The sky is only just getting bright. I guess I'm just not used to sleeping on the ground and that's what woke me up sooner than normal.

Looking back at our campsite, I don't see Rena anywhere. Aisha's curled up on a bed made of some weird plant leaves, and there's an empty one which Rena must have used. But she herself is nowhere to be found.

I stand on top of the log. "Rena!" I yell. "Where'd you go?"

No answer.

"REEEENAAA!"

Still nothing.

Some leaves rustle next to me. "Won't you let ANY of us get some sleep?!" It's Aisha.

"Shut up, blockhead," I answer. Turning back to the trees, I yell again. "REEEEEENAAAAA!"

"Idiot," Aisha says while crossing her arms.

I ignore her and get off the log. Aisha gets up and wipes the leaves and twigs off her.

"When did she leave?" she asks.

"Like I would know. I was sleeping too."

The two of us sit around with nothing to do but argue for the next thirty minutes. Eventually Rena _does_ come back, holding a sort of bag made out of a large leaf.

"Where were you?!" I yell right away. "We had no idea what was happening!"

She smiles. "Good morning, you two!"

I grunt indignantly. Aisha laughs a little.

"I brought us some breakfast," Rena says cheerfully. She walks to one of the logs and sits down next to it, placing the leaf bag on the flat surface.

Aisha and I sit around it.

"What's inside?" Aisha asks.

Rena unfolds it, revealing. . . more leaves.

". . . What is that?" I ask.

"It's our breakfast! We'll be having a salad today."

I look over at Aisha, hoping for support. Of course, I'm disappointed. She seems pretty happy with the current state of affairs.

"Wow! And you just found all these growing around here?" she asks, her eyes sparkling.

"Mm-hmm! Now, eat up, everyone! We've got a lot to do today!"

_"Do they really have to agree on everything?"_ I wonder.

The two girls munch on their salads and talk about girl things. I stare at the pathetic green mass in front of me, wondering if it's even edible.

"What's wrong, Elsword?" Rena ask politely, looking over at me. "Not feeling hungry this morning?"

"Not even a little," I grumble. Ever since Sis left, I haven't so much as touched a vegetable, and I have no intention of starting now.

"Hehe!" Rena giggles. "So much like a human boy! But you'd better have something, you know. You'll stay short forever if you don't eat green things every now and then."

I notice Aisha takes an extra large bite of her salad when she says that.

"That's not true!" I yell. "You eat meat to get stronger!"

Rena laughs.

. . . I feel like I've done that before.

* * *

_A.N.:_

_How do you like those tree knights? I've always loved pets in Elsword. Medusa, Hoya, Berthe Jr. and the ever-lovely queen Miho will always hold a special spot in my heart. Tree knights have always had this sense of unity none of the other pets have though. They're clunky, not the best room clearers, and not even very visually appealing, but you really can't help but love them. Charming little squad, aren't they? More pets will be in future chapters._

_Speaking of future chapters, this next one shouldn't as long of a wait, and it's a big chapter. It's already finished, I just need to go through the very (very, very, very, very,) long process of editing it to death and sending it off to my minions to proofread. (Apparently I'm not allowed to call them guinea pigs anymore.) Just a warning though, I was running on fumes for the first half of the next chapter. I was also doing that for the last half of this chapter, but hey, it wasn't that bad, right? (Pleasedon'tlynchmeforit.)_

_As for other characters: I tried adding in conversations with Ann and Hagus, but couldn't really pull them off. I also tried to bring Add into this one, but. . . yeah. Amber makes a neat character though, doesn't she? And Aisha got some nice scenes._

_Huh. . . all these "A" characters. I feel like there's another person who's name starts with "A" I'm forgetting. . .  
__Ah, well. I'm sure it's nobody special. Anyways, on to the next chapter!_


	4. 3: Bandit Problems

_Was anyone expecting this to be on time?_

_. . . I'm sorry._

* * *

**Chapter 3: Bandit Problems**

"Why is there nobody here?" I whisper as we sneak down by the riverside.

"It's early," Rena answers. "Not many of them are awake yet."

After getting situated, the three of us had advanced deeper into the swamp and found the bandit's hideout. There were two or three bandits on lookout, but a few swift kicks from Rena had them on the ground in no time. There hasn't been anything else worth noting so far.

"We'd better keep moving," Rena says.

I nod and follow her as she walks away. It takes a few seconds to notice Aisha isn't coming with us."

"Come ooooooon!" I fuss. "We're never gonna get there if you check out every last little leaf on the ground!"

"Quiet!" she snaps back. "Come look at these footprints."

I don't budge, but Rena walks over. "She's right," Rena mutters, looking over the patch of ground Aisha was pointing at. "Elsword, come look."

I sigh and walk over. Right away, I can see why Aisha noticed them. They don't go too deeply into the ground, but the prints are very large.

"It must be bipedal, based on the steps it takes," Aisha theorizes, looking pleased with herself. "And it looks like it has claws, so it might also be aggressive."

"Two legs and aggressive, huh?" Rena wonders, looking up at the trees. "There certainly aren't many animals which match that description where I live."

Somehow, I notice something else in the ground. Near where the giant footprint ends, there are a few tiny indentations. The ground is marshy, which is probably the only reason I can see them at all. There are many of them, and they're almost perfect circles. I wonder why I saw them?

_"That's weird,"_ I think. I take note of it, then we're ready to move on.

* * *

"Heads up!"

I barely have time to hear Rena's words before it comes at me. The man flings his knife forward and I lean to the side to dodge it. I'm only barely fast enough, and I feel the blade cut into my skin as it flies into the greenery behind me. Enraged, I swing my sword from behind my back into the bandit's ribs. I hear a cracking noise and the man falls. I stand over him, admiring my work for a second. I feel pretty good.

There's a scream behind us. A bandit twice my size stands in front of Aisha, sending one of his massive fists at her. Aisha cowers and uses her staff to try and block it, but it's not quite enough. The staff only manages to slightly parry the blow and Aisha is hurled back, the staff flying out of her hands. I start to run for the big man, but a sound behind me keeps me from going. Rena's holding an arrow to her string, a look of fury in her eyes. A sheath of wind wraps itself around the arrow, and with a yell, she lets it fly. It pierces the man's shoulder, drilling right through it without so much as slowing down. He screams and glares back at Rena, one of his arms hanging limply at his side. He starts to weakly charge towards Rena in some sort of last-ditch effort to win this fight. Calmer now, Rena slides across the ground towards him, trips him up with a kick to the ankle, and lays him flat with a knee to his face.

"You're sure you're okay?! Nothing's broken?!"

Aisha nods. "It doesn't hurt much. Just a minute or two of rest and I'll be fine."

I watch the two of them. Rena was crying for a bit, but she's gotten herself together now. She switches gears from "vengeful warrior who'll tear out your throat" to "concerned mother" astonishingly fast.

"You shouldn't have let him get that close to you!" Rena scolds. "Let us take care of them next time, all right? You just stay back where they can't get you."

Aisha grimaces, turning a bit red. "Hey, I can take care of myself!" She looks away, reminding me of a pouting toddler. "He just kinda snuck up on me is all. . ."

I laugh at her. "You need glasses! That guy was huge!"

"Hehehe. . ." Rena giggles. It sounds ominous. "And what was the knight in shining armor doing while the lady was in peril?"

"S-Shut up!" I yell. "I was fighting someone else!"

Rena smirks and turns back to the forest. "The sun's up," she says in a more serious tone. "The bandits will start waking up around now."

"What should we do then?" Aisha asks. "We can't just fight through them all, can we?"

Rena shakes her head. "There's one portion of the lake which has a lot more fog than the rest. It's hard to get to, so it makes sense that the chief bandit would stay there. We should just go straight there instead of taking our time with the rest of the area."

"Wait," I ask. "Why didn't we just do that in the first place?"

"We didn't have a reason to hurry. We spent a bit more time fighting than I would have preferred. It also happens to be close to where we are now, so I think we should give it a quick glance over while we're here."

"Rena, you've been here before?" Aisha asks.

"I have. I came here once or twice with my parents when I was smalle-"

She stops.

Both Aisha and I look over questioningly.

"Did you hear that?" Rena asks.

I shake my head.

"Listen, something's coming this way!"

Rena scurries behind a tree and indicates that we should follow her. Aisha races right behind Rena, and I follow her halfheartedly.

Halfheartedly turns out to not be enough. What feels like a load of bricks slams into my back, pitching me into the trunk of a nearby tree. My vision goes hazy instantly, and I struggle to keep my consciousness. Up ahead, Rena and Aisha prepare to fight, dwarfed by a huge ape beating its chest.

"Be careful!" Rena yells. "He looks strong!"

"We'll stop him," Aisha says confidently.

The ape makes the first move. It swings its fist down at Rena, who slides along the ground with the ease of a snake to avoid it. Once her momentum can carry her no farther, she uses her hand to spring off the ground and fires a quick shot at the monster's leg, landing nimbly a safe distance away. The arrow hits squarely, but the ape doesn't even look like he felt it. It keeps racing for Rena, swinging its fists like a child throwing a tantrum. Rena moves like the wind, flowing between all the blows like water through rocks. She's not taking any damage, but she isn't dealing any either. _"What's Aisha doing?!"_ I think, feeling pathetic that I can't be in there helping.

I see her standing about thirty feet from the other two. Her eyes are closed, a white light is shining under her, and it looks like she's saying something. Whatever she's doing, it's not helping Rena at all right now.

I lift myself up off the ground. I stagger a few steps and find my sword. My legs still feel like jelly, but I start to trudge over towards Rena and the ape. As I get close, I hear Aisha shout from behind me. She runs towards the ape and hurls a single fireball at it. It crashes against the monkey's back and he spins around to face her.

"I've got you now!" Aisha yells. A white wave of energy flies out of her staff and through the ape. I look to the ape, expecting it to react, but it doesn't. It stands there, not moving at all, frozen in time by Aisha's attack. Using this chance, Aisha jumps into the air and points her staff at the ape's face. Blue streaks split through the air and fly into the monster, its face contorting with pain. Finally, Aisha hovers into the air and spins, a massive column fire erupting out the ground under her, swirling and scorching everything nearby.

Aisha drops to one knee once it's over, clearly exhausted from using so much magic at once. However, I can see that it's still not over. My vision is still blurred, don't get me wrong. But through the remaining smoke and embers, I see the creature's arms both raised high into the air. Rena shouts a warning and Aisha dives away. The ape drives its arms into the ground where she had just stood. The ground gives a noticeable shudder, and in my dizzied state, I start to lose my footing.

The ape slams the ground again.

I trip and drop my sword.

The ape slams the ground again.

My feet are completely knocked out from beneath me and I fall.

The ape slams the ground again.

I'm thrown high into the air, helplessly trying to regain my balance.

The ape slams the ground one more time and I smash into the ground, the top of my head taking most of the impact. The world goes dark as I fall in a crumpled heap by a tree. . .

* * *

_"Hey, you want to hear a story?"_

_ "Sure! What's it about?"_

_ "It's the story of a weak little boy who grew up to be hero."_

_ "That sounds cool! Is it a true story?"_

_ "Heh, no, it's not. I just remember reading it when I was younger."_

_ "I want to read it too then! It sounds like fun."_

_ "Well. . . it's not exactly a fun book. It's actually kinda sad in a way."_

_ "I'll still read it!"_

_ ". . . I seem to remember you hated reading less than a month back."_

_ "No way! I've always like reading!"_

_ ". . . Erm. . . Right. . ."_

_ She sighs. "I'll go get it then. It should still be in my room."_

_ "Okay!"_

_ She leaves. She returns a little later with a book in her hands._

_ "All right, here it is. Be sure to take good care of it, okay?"_

_ "I will!" To prove my sincerity, I promptly sit down in a chair and start to read it._

_ "I'm going to go into Ruben and get us some things from the store, okay? I'll be back."_

_ "'Kay!"_

_ I really loved my sister. I still do. I remember I never even finished the first chapter of that book. I set it down and went to play outside before she even returned home. But I didn't care. She'd done something, and I'd started to do the same thing. That alone was enough for me._

* * *

Everything's hazy when I open my eyes. It hurts a little, so I close them again. _"That was a weird thing to remember. . ."_ I think while trying not to move too much.

It feels like someone's carrying me. I open my eyes again and squint into the light. I'm on Rena's back. To the side, Aisha's strolling along, carrying both her staff and my sword in her hands. I cough. Aisha takes a quick look over at me then speaks.

"He's awake."

Rena looks over her shoulder at me, her face awkwardly close to mine.

"Hey there. Feeling all right?"

I nod. She crouches down and lets me off her back.

"It took you long enough. We've been carrying you and your stuff for nearly thirty minutes!"

Aisha. I step over and snatch my sword away from her.

"You're welcome," she says.

"Shut up."

Rena cuts in before either of us can turn this into an argument. "So, I'm assuming you don't need any time to rest, Elsword?"

"Yeah," I reply. "I'm good to go."

Actually, that's not true. I feel dizzy, my vision is blurred, I'm occasionally seeing little sparkles, and I can't think straight. But there's no way I'd ever give Aisha the satisfaction of knowing any of that.

"Where are we going?" I ask, shrugging off the headache that comes with talking.

`"We're just about there," Rena answers. "Take a look."

I gaze ahead. The mist still obscures some of my vision, but I can see well enough. Grass is growing beneath my feet, a few shades greener and brighter than the grass on the outside of the swamp. Deep puddles of water are scattered all around, clear enough for me to see right through them to the bottom. Even the trees all look abnormally healthy, and the vines hanging off them sway as if they're alive.

"What is this place?" I ask after a few seconds.

"The center of the lake," Rena says. "Aisha, do you see anything?"

". . . It's really beautiful," Aisha answers her. "I've never seen anything like it."

We all stand still for a few seconds, admiring the scenery.

Rena perks up suddenly and focuses her eyes deep into the fog. I swear her ears moved. That's a little freaky.

"What is it?" Aisha asks.

"Over there. Someone's moving."

I look where she's staring. I don't see anything.

"You're sure it's there?" I ask.

Rena nods. "Let's check it out." She starts to quietly run along the marshy ground. Aisha and I hurry behind. In a few seconds, I can see what she saw. A large black shadow off in the distance, carrying a glowing object in their hands. Invigorated, I sprint straight towards it, firmly grasping my sword in my right hand.

"Elsword, slow down!" Rena urgently whispers.

"You're going to give us away!" Aisha fusses.

I ignore them both. As I get closer, the figure comes into full view. It's Banthus, of course. He's facing away from me, his sword strapped onto his back. I make a final charge and leap through the air at him, bringing my sword down as hard as I can. It connects with the sword on his back with a splintering crash, and Banthus quickly stumbles forward a few seconds before losing his balance. I run at him again before he can get up. With a yell, I swing my sword down at his head from above. He leaps away from my swing like a cat and rolls to his feet. I look up at him. He's holding a large El fragment in one of his hands. With the other, he pulls the sword off his back and points it at me. I notice a large crack around where I hit it.

"You again," he says.

"Miss me?!"

I charge at him again. I throw my sword out in front of me in a blunt stab. He holds his sword in front of him in a blocking position. Smiling, I rush at him faster. If this is a contest of strength, he'll never win with that sword. He does something I don't expect though. My sword strikes his, but it's as if he never intended to block my attack. Actually, he didn't block. His blade slides along the side of mine, pushing with just enough force to deflect the brunt of the attack away from his body. Now he has the advantage. He thrusts his sword right at my stomach. Not having enough time to dodge, I twist away from it, and the blade cuts into my side. I stagger away and glare back at him.

"Elsword!" Rena yells from behind me. It looks like the two of them are finally here. She runs over to me and takes a quick look at my slash wound. "Stay behind us," she says. Aisha and I will keep him busy for a while.

I start to protest but am interrupted. "He's getting away!" Aisha yells. We look up. Banthus has sheathed his sword again and is scampering up a small ledge above us. He turns around and smiles at us in a condescending way. Then we hear it. The footsteps of something huge coming this way. I look over towards the sound. Trees start to shake as the creature comes by. It's massive. It's like the giant phoru I fought before. This thing, however, could very well be the god of all phorus. It stands hunched over on two legs, with a long purple spike on its forehead. Two long arms hang from its sides, with dangerous looking claws on each. It looks down at us with glowing gold eyes filled with rage.

I rise to my feet and get ready to fight. Aisha holds her staff in front of her and starts to charge up her magic attacks. Rena, however, does none of that. She just stands there, petrified, staring blankly into the face of the creature.

"It's you. . ." I hear her whisper.

Her voice is drowned out by the screech of the phoru, and the fight begins.

Aisha takes the initiative. She runs right in front of the phoru and hurls a single fireball at it. The phoru doesn't pay it any mind and makes a crippling slice right towards Aisha, barreling right through the fireball. Aisha watches the attack until the last second, then vanishes, appearing just behind the creature. The phoru looks around for a second, confused, then turns around and spots her. Its back is towards me now. I run at it, take my stance and let loose. A smash down the middle, two slashes low, one swing up high, and a final sweep with all my might to clean up, knocking the creature off its feet and sending it sliding a few feet. Fatal Fury. Came up with it myself.

The phoru lifts itself back to its feet and glares at me. It dives along the ground, trying to slash at me from below. I do my half slide, half trip to the side, rolling to my feet quickly. The thing quickly lunges at me again, sending its claws at me in a relentless barrage, some of which I block, but a few make it through, cutting my legs and arms.

"Gonna help?!" I yell at Aisha.

She doesn't even look like she heard me. Great. The phoru continues to swing at me regardless.

_"All right,"_ I think. _"She's doing nothing. Not gonna win this by blocking, am I?"_

I grip my sword around the handle with both hands again, going back from blocking. The monster drags its bladelike claws through the air. Enraged, I drive my sword at its claw with all my might. The attack doesn't completely stop the phoru's claw, but it slows it down a lot, enough for me to step out of the way. I'm pretty sure it hurt the phoru too.

The phoru draws its arm back and lets it fly at me again, with more muscle in it this time. Gritting my teeth, I swing my sword up from below to counter it again. This time, it doesn't work. The phoru's raw strength crashes through my attack, knocking my sword far away from me. I'm hit in the head by one of the spots on its hand which doesn't have a claw on it, sending me sprawling.

"Over here!" Aisha yells just before it hits me again. She floats into the air just behind the creature and points her staff at it. Another lightning bolt leaps out of the staff, lighting the area a bright blue. Smoke rises off the monster's back and it gives a noticeable shudder. Not stopping, Aisha throws fireballs out from her staff; two big ones, then one bigger than herself. The phoru gets knocked to the ground from the force of this last one. Aisha finishes up the same way she did with the ape; summoning a giant pillar of fire to try and burn the thing to death. When it's all over, the phoru is lying on its side.

"Does THAT count as 'helping?'" Aisha sarcastically asks me, dramatically flipping her hair. (The hairflip doesn't work, by the way. Her hair is too short.)

"No!" I yell. "Learn how to fight! You nearly got me killed by charging magic that long!"

"Not my fault you can't look after yourself for thirty seconds."

"You're an idiot!"

"An idiot who just saved your life!"

"Yeah, well don't expect me to return the favor!"

Aisha would have responded, but our attention was grabbed by the phoru again. From its position on its side, it suddenly snaps its front claws and legs together like a mousetrap and springs back up onto its feet. The two of us run in opposite directions away from it, and it decides to focus on me. It takes a light swipe at me again, which I again try to overpower with a swing of my own. It works, and not only knocks the claw away from me, but the phoru shakes a little as a result.

_"Perfect," _I think. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice Aisha behind the phoru, peacefully charging up magic _again_.

_"What's her problem?!" _I think._ "Does she just not understand that doesn't help us?!"_ I'm mad now. The phoru swings at me again, this time with its other claw. I avoid it by diving backwards. Still mad at Aisha, I do something a little less than honorable. As the phoru pulls back its claw, I drop my sword, then turn around, facing the bushes. I make a break for it, hoping to outrun its claw if it tries to attack me. I don't hear the thing chasing me for a few seconds, so I figure I'm safe. I turn around once I reach the safety of the thicket. The phoru's not looking at me anymore, targeting Aisha. She's still charging magic, her eyes shut to the danger in front of her.

"Open your eyes, idiot!" I yell, trying not to smile. She looks up just in time to see the phoru's left claw flying directly at her. She teleports just in time to avoid the lethal blades, though some scraps of cloth remain on the claws even after she vanishes. Her teleportation only takes her about two feet backwards, and she points her staff at the phoru.

"Lightning bol-!"

She doesn't have enough time to finish the spell. The phoru backhands her with a powerful swing of its arms, and her body is sent flying through the air, her staff falling about thirty feet away from her.

_"I think that's about enough,"_ I decide. I dash back towards the phoru, scooping up my sword from where I dropped it. Something seems different about the phoru now though. It raises its head high into the air and howls loudly. When it looks back at me, it seems stronger, as if invigorated by some invisible force gained by landing a solid hit.

I rush in under its claws and swing at one of its legs. To my disbelief, the phoru pivots around me on one heel, quickly swiping me from behind as I run hopelessly past it.

_"Damn! It got fast all of the sudden!" _I think as I turn back around to face it. I try a jumping strike, leaping as high as I can and bringing my sword down in front of me. The phoru snarls and flings up one of its claw like a whip, dealing a punishing blow from beneath me. I fall to the ground on my back, barely noticing the second claw coming down at me from above. My eyes widen as I finally see it, and I roll away just in the nick of time, staring at the deep indentation made just where I was a moment before. I look up at the creature, amazed.

_"There's no way this is the same thing I was just fighting a minute ago!"_ In desperation, I look back towards Aisha. A slight trickle of blood is coming down her cheek, and she's dizzily hobbling around towards her staff. _"Dammit! Where's Rena gone off to?!"_

The phoru roars at me. Its tail spins from behind it and knocks my feet out from under me. Before I can get up, it raises its head high and its neck swells as it takes in a huge puff of air. It glares back down at me, lowers its head, and breathes out a huge blast of fire. Unable to escape, I can do nothing but shield myself with my arms as the flames engulf me.

It's hot. I can feel it eating away at the sides of my arms and face. But. . . the rest of me isn't burning. I hear a slight groan in front of me. Still shielding my face, I open my left eye a crack. I'm taken aback by what I see. In front of me, stopping the burning river with a shield, is one of the tree knights I saw in Ruben. The fire continues for about three more seconds, then fades away. Without the bright red glow of the fire obscuring my vision, I can see it's the white one. I think I remember her name was Frigus. Her shield drops to the ground, all the paint which used to cover it now burned off.. She sinks to one knee, using her lance to support her. She's not in good shape right now. I simply sit there, too stunned to do anything.

"Knights! Charge!"

From the trees to our right, the other three tree knights come running. I laughed at them for the odd way they walked in Ruben, but they're running faster than I could right now. The pink one, Sakura, lets out a gravely roar and leaps into the air, his lance glowing pink, and drives it down into the phoru's face.

"Amber!" he yells.

"By your side!" she responds. Her shield glows orange and, holding it in front of her, she charges at the phoru, gathering enough momentum to ram one of its legs out from under it. The phoru scurries backwards and howls at them, charging up its fire breath again.

Viride shouts a warning. "Knights! Defend!"

Sakura and Amber both race to Viride, and the two create a wall with their shields. Viride steps behind the wall and crouches, a bright green light shining from his lance. Fire erupts out of the phoru's mouth and smashes into the shields. Sakura and Amber both stand firm and start to slowly advance through the flames, their shields deflecting the deadly stream in a cone-like shape.

Viride sees the flames begin to die down and starts to shout.

"WIIIIIIIND-"

Sakura and Amber both dive to the side.

"SPLICER!"

Immediately, Viride blasts away from the ground like a shot from a cannon, and thrusts his lance just below the phoru's chin. The monster screams loudly and falls onto its back, unable to rise again. A moment of silence follows its fall.

Quickly, the three tree knights race over to Frigus in their clunky, awkward fashion.

"Can you rise?" Viride asks.

"O-Of course," Frigus answers. She starts to stand up, but then falls back down to her original position. Amber and Sakura quickly run over to help her. Frigus looks down when they do.

"I apologize. . . for being a burden like this."

"You need not apologize!" Amber quickly says. "Your actions were by far the bravest of us all!"

"She speaks truth," Viride adds. "It is to a knights honor to sacrifice themselves for another. You truly are among the most revered of knights this day!"

The three knights cheer loudly. Frigus looks up at the rest of them and does what must be the tree knight equivalent of smiling.

A loud sound from the phoru interrupts the cheering. They all four look back in alarm as the thing rises to its feet.

"'Tis a resilient foe indeed. . ." Sakura says, determination flashing in his eye.

"We shall fight with all our strength!" Amber yells, rallying the group. As they prepare for another face-off, someone else interrupts them.

"Stop! Don't attack it!"

I look towards the sound. It's Rena, racing at everyone from a dense grove of trees. She runs up in front of the tree knights, panting and out of breath. The knights lower their lances as she steps forward. She look into the phoru's eyes, and after catching her breath, speaks to it kindly.

"Hello there. It's been a long time, hasn't it?"

The phoru looks down at her strangely. It keeps its guard up, but doesn't attack.

Rena holds out two necklaces with small shiny rocks attached to them. One is very small, more like a large bracelet, while the other is closer to the size of a large belt.

"Do you remember me?"

The phoru stands still for a few seconds. I squint up and see the light which used to be in its eyes start to vanish. It makes a strange sound, half happy, half sounding like crying. It slowly lowers its head down to Rena and nuzzles against her hair. She smiles and strokes the side of its head.

"So it _is_ you," I hear her whisper. The phoru slowly turns away and vanishes into the tall grove of trees, and Rena follows beside it. I lose sight of her quickly.

All of us are surprised at what we just saw. That was very different from the massive spectacle we were all expecting. Aisha walks over to the tree knights and me.

"What was that about?" she asks.

"I have no idea."

The drop in intensity was too sudden for any of us to understand. We're silent for several more seconds before Viride calls the knights to attention.

"Knights!" he declares. "Our work here has been completed. We must continue our march! Huu-ah!" He raises his lance above his head and the other three follow suit. They start to walk into the forest, in the direction of the suburbs of Elder, the largest town nearby. Before they vanish, I call out after them.

"W-Wait!"

They all turn around and look at me.

I quickly walk toward Frigus, but feel awkward and stop halfway.

". . . Thank you," I say. "For helping me back there."

Frigus steps forward and does her tree knight salute toward me. I silently salute back. Then they all disappear into the trees, out of my sight.

* * *

It's all over now. With nobody else around, Aisha and I sit below trees across from each other.

". . ."

". . ."

Yeah. We don't talk much. I look in every direction except at her, she pretends to be interested with something in the grass. We pass about twenty minutes like that. Finally, I speak.

"When's Rena gonna come back?"

"I'm not sure. It's been a while."

"Yeah, this is pretty boring. Wanna just go look for her?"

"I guess."

She stands up and brushes off her skirt. I just scoop my sword up and start to walk.

"I'm pretty sure that's the wrong way," Aisha fusses from behind. I act like I don't hear her. This is definitely the right way.

"Hello?!"

I ignore her again, but this time for a different reason. Something's moving just inside the grove of trees ahead of us.

"Shut up," I command, interrupting whatever pointless monologue she was making. I draw my sword and start to move forward. The moving shadow stops and crouches low.

"Who's there?!" I yell. Nobody answers.

"What do you see?" Aisha asks.

"Shut up!" I fuss. "Get over here."

I walk in with Aisha a short distance behind me. Suddenly, a running figure bursts out from a bush in front of us. They're wearing red with a mask over their face. A bandit.

"There he is!" I yell. I sprint after him, leaving Aisha behind. She chases us, but she's not quite as fast as me, and remains behind us.

"Stop running you coward!" I yell at the bandit in front of me. He stumbles a little, but stays on his feet. It looks like he rolled his ankle though, as he's moving considerably slower. As the distance between us shortens, I see my chance. The path splits ahead of us; one high road and one which remains flat. The bandit hobbles along the flat path at an unsteady pace. I, gathering up all my energy, race up the higher path until I'm looking down on the bandit from above. With a yell, I dive off the path and swing my sword at him. The blow connects, and the bandit collapses like a lifeless doll.

"You idiot! We needed him awake!" Aisha yells once he catches up to me.

"You never told me that! Besides, did you help to catch him? No! So stop complaining!"

"It should be obvious we needed him awake! How else would he be able to tell us where Banthus is going?!"

"Shut up! If you wanted to keep him awake, you should have stuck with me!"

"You left me behind!"

"I thought you'd be able to catch up. Wait, but how many of those little cakes did you eat in Ruben? That might be why."

Aisha's staff smashes into my face. "You. . . . . . YOU LITTLE BRAT!" she screams.

I wipe the side of my face and my start to respond. I'm stopped, however, by what feels like a powerful feeling of danger to my right. I turn and look. Rena's standing there. An unearthly black mist is coming out of her body, her eyes are red, and she has the kind of sadistic smile one would expect from a serial killer.

I rub my eyes.

She's back to normal now. She just looks angry.

"What are you two doing out here?!" she screams. "Do you have ANY idea just how loud you were being?!"

"It's her faul-" I start to protest.

"DON'T YOU START THAT WITH ME, UNDERSTAND?!"

"Yes ma'am," I respond meekly.

She glares at us without saying anything for five minutes straight. Aisha and I don't move a bit. Finally, she sighs and stops looking mad. "Can you two just try and get along in the future."

"Yes," Aisha and I both respond quickly. I doubt either of us mean it, but given the current situation, there's nothing else we would dare say.

"All right. So, who's this?" Rena asks, gesturing towards the bandit.

"I saw him in some bushes and chased him," I answer.

"We're waiting for him to wake up so he can tell us where the rest of the bandits went," Aisha adds.

"I see," Rena says thoughtfully. She crouches down and looks at the bandit. Then she asks, "Hey. . . did either of you think to check what's in this bag he's carrying?"

"What bag?" I ask. I look over and see what Rena's talking about. It's simple leather bag, held together by string wrapped around the top. The bandit had it fastened to his belt, which is why I didn't see him carrying it. Rena pulls the bag off him and looks inside.

"Here we are," she says. "Take a look." She pulls out a slip of paper from the bag and shows it to us. On it is written one simple line.

"Elder village is safe," Aisha reads. "What does that mean?"

"It means," Rena says. "That any bandit who goes to Elder village can expect to be kept safe."

"So we should go there?" I ask.

Rena nods. "If they can expect to be kept safe there, then Banthus certainly went there. Come on, we'd better hurry."

* * *

_A.N.:_

_Finally uploaded this! My minions couldn't proofread this one (or at least, couldn't get back to me about it), so I decided just to upload it. What's the worst that could happen anyway, right?  
I don't have much to say on this one. Glory to Tree Knights, I guess!_


	5. 4: First Friend

_This is actually still alive. More or less. In any case, thanks to Akuuma for helping me edit this._

* * *

**Chapter 4: First Friend**

"Aha! Elder village! We're finally here!"

We all walk under the enormous yellow gate into the busy town. Aisha scurries around like a flighty little rat looking at all the inns, shops, and attractions.

"This is amazing! I never thought it'd be so big!"

"It _is_ very impressive," Rena comments. "But don't forget why we're here."

I look around. The town is a perfect picture of prosperity. The roads are all paved with gleaming white bricks painted yellow on the sides. Hundreds of busy people wander around in front of us, each hurrying off to their own job.

"There's so many people," I mutter. I've never seen this many people at once in my life.

"Elder's one of the biggest cities on this continent, second only to the capital," Rena tells me. "All kinds of people make their living here." We both take a look over at Aisha, who's inspecting a map of the city.

"Aisha," Rena calls, "come on, we'd better hurry." Aisha looks up from the map and follows us.

After receiving directions from a man on the street, we walk up a few roads until we reach a large house built upon a hill. It's made of wood and straw, but the curved roof and gold plating on the windows suggests that this is a very important person. Undaunted, Rena reaches forward and knocks on the door. A maid walks out and tells us that Hoffman is busy, but when Rena says it's urgent, she allows us through.

We're led to a secluded room deep inside the reaches of the home. The maid bows and dismisses herself, leaving us to our business. Inside, two men are talking. One is round and out of shape, but well-dressed and with a kind face. The other is stout and burly. His muscles are stained in soot, making them seem more defined than they already are.

"We can't go on like this much longer," the muscular man says.

"You're right," the other says, "but there's nothing we can do without attracting suspicion. If I made a move, Wally would certainly find out. We can't allow him to know."

"That's why you should let _me_ do it! You know I'll take the fall myself if I'm caught. This is something I _must_ do!"

"You're not as young as you once were, Lenphad. You know I trust you with my life, but trust is not the issue here. You can't hope to sneak into the most guarded facility on this side of Velder and escape unharmed! That's madness!"

The muscular man, Lenphad, starts to give a response but stops when he notices us. "Who are these people?" he asks. The other man looks at us almost distrustfully.

"My name is Rena," Rena explains, "and these are my companions, Aisha and Elsword. We've been sent from Ruben village to seek your help."

"_We're_ the ones who need help," Lenphad grumbles. The other man quiets him and addresses us politely.

"Good day. My name is Hoffman. As it stands, we're in a bit of a tight spot ourselves, which restricts our ability to be of assistance to you. However, I can promise that anything we can do, we will."

Rena nods and continues. "A group of bandits led by the man Banthus have stolen the El Fragment from our forest." She holds out the paper she picked off the bandit in the forest. "We have proof that they've found refuge here. We'd like to request your help in tracking down the bandits and recovering our lost Fragment as soon as possible."

The two men both look grim. Hoffman takes a look at the paper, then folds it up and slips it into his pocket.

"This could be more serious than we thought," he says to Lenphad with a sigh. Lenphad is silent, his eyebrows twitching in frustration.

There's a long pause, then Aisha speaks. "Is . . . there a problem we don't know about?"

Lenphad crunches his teeth down angrily. "The problem," he yells, "is that our leader's playing this entire city for fools!" He calms down after that, apparently feeling better after getting that out. Hoffman speaks.

"Above me, the man who leads this city is named Lord Wally. Nearly two months ago, he contracted a strange man to teach him about Nasod technology. We're not sure what exactly he wants, but from what we've gathered, it looks like he's trying to build his own personal army out of machines."

"Out of machines?" I ask. "How is that even possible?"

"For a man with limitless resources, anything is possible. And if he's stolen an El Fragment to power those machines. . ." Hoffman pauses, allowing the words to linger in the air before continuing. "You all look capable," he says. "If you're intent on getting your village's El Fragment back, you'll need to work with us to stop Wally."

"We understand," Rena answers. "Tell us where to begin."

"Go to Echo, an alchemist in this village. She'll be able to tell you what needs to be done better than either of us right now."

Rena thanks them, and the three of us leave.

* * *

Echo's house is a worn down shack near the edge of town with strange metal projections coming out of the roof. A boy's sitting outside, and he watches us as we walk up to the door and knock. Nobody answers.

"Looking for Echo?" he asks.

Rena nods. "Is she not home?"

"I suppose not," he answers meekly. "She told me to be waiting out here in the morning when we talked last night."

We sit down across from the boy. He's pretty short, and has very light blonde hair. His eyes are a pale mix between green and blue, and the rest of his face is very delicately formed. Altogether, it gives him a very girlish look.

"What's your name?" Aisha asks him, smiling brightly.

"Er. . . Chung," he answers.

Rena smiles at him. "Chung, is it? You don't need to act so nervous. We don't bite."

The boy closes his eyes, smiles, and scratches the back of his head. "Ehe. . . of course. Sorry."

"So Chung," Aisha says, still sounding incredibly cheerful. "What are you here for?"

"Ah, Miss Echo was going to teach me some alchemy today." He sighs. "But I've been waiting here for hours. I'm not sure if she even remembers me."

I look up towards the house. None of the lights are on inside.

"Could she have gone off somewhere?" Rena asks.

"It's possible," Chung answers. "I _do_ wish she would have told me that beforehand though." He sighs again, sounding depressed.

I walk up to the house again and pound my fist on the door. "Hello?!" I yell. "Anyone home?!"

"Learn some decency!" Aisha scolds. I stick my tongue out at her. From inside, we hear some sort of crashing sound.

"Now you've done it," she snaps.

"Shut up! I couldn't have broken anything by knocking."

We hear something unlatch from behind the door and it swings open, revealing a small girl in an evening gown and nightcap. She yawns and quietly addresses us.

"Echo's tired. . ."

We all look at her for a minute.

"You . . ._are_ Echo, correct?" Rena asks.

The girl nods. She stares at us for a minute before suddenly jerking awake. "Ah! It's this late already?!" She exclaims. She hurries back inside and shuts the door behind her. We can hear the sound of things falling off shelves as she rummages around through her house. She reappears at the door in minutes, wearing a thin white top with metal goggles on top of her head. Her hair is sticking out in every direction imaginable.

"Echo's sorry!" she yells. "Everyone can come inside now."

Echo's house is a bit of a mess inside. Metal shelves line every wall, most filled to the brim with complicated objects and gadgets. There are glass beakers, rows of alchemic formulas, leather gloves, metal goggles, and electric lights. There's even a whole shelf devoted to candy. I help myself to a piece off there and turn back towards everyone else.

"So, how can Echo help you?" Echo asks us, taking a seat at her table.

"We're here on Lenphad's request," Rena explains. "He's sent us here to help the town in any way it needs."

"Echo understands," she says. She pauses for a minute, probably trying to figure out what to say. She seems out of ideas, but then seems to remember something. "That's right!" she says loudly.

We all look up at her.

"A few days ago, two adventurers gave me some strange map pieces they found on the edge of town. Echo hasn't looked there herself, but she knows the path on the map leads to a cave."

"And you want us to check it out?" I ask.

"Yes," Echo says confidently. "Also, the cave has some papery white flowers growing in it. Please find some of those and bring them to Echo."

"What are the flowers for?" Aisha asks.

Echo stands up proudly. "Something which will help all of Elder!" she says confidently. I look at her dubiously. The candy I took off her shelf didn't taste so great. I'm wondering if she's going to use the flower to try and change that.

"What should I do?" Chung asks, moving from his position on the wall.

"Go with them," Echo answers. "I'm not quite ready to begin with you. Your cannon's in there," she says, gesturing towards a room in the back.

"E-Ehhh. . ." Chung stutters, scratching the top of one of his arms. "Is that alright with you three?"

"Of course!" Aisha says loudly, putting her arm around his shoulder. "We'd love to have you come along."

Rena and I shrug, not seeing a problem with it.

"The cave's about half a day away," Echo tells us. "You don't need to hurry though. Echo can wait."

"We'll try and be quick about it anyway," Rena tells her.

Echo nods. "Be careful."

* * *

We walk. On and on, through streams and thickets and shrubbery, our humble little procession carries forward. I've lost track of how long it's been, but evening should be coming soon. I yawn and look up. I can't see the sun. The trees here are so thick that they completely obscure the sky, making any light shining down from above look green. Rena and Aisha make remarks to each other in the front every now and then, but they're silent for the most part.

I sigh. "All the overgrowth here is annoying."

"It would definitely be an easier trip without it," Chung comments. He's the only one close enough to me to answer. After a pause, he asks me a question. "What do you think they're talking about up there?"

"Rena and Aisha?" I ask back. "Girl stuff. They chat about all kinds of things. It gets on my nerves after a while."

"Don't you ever talk with them?"

"Not really. Aisha's stupid. She always just tries to talk down to me because she thinks she's smarter than me. She likes you a lot for some reason though."

Chung's face turns a little red and he scratches the back of his head. "Ehe," he laughs awkwardly. "Yeah, she does. I don't know why either. It's a little embarrassing. . ."

"Maybe she likes you."

Chung's face turns a very bright shade of red this time. "I-I-I'm sure it's something else!" he loudly assures me. I laugh. Then a great idea hits me.

"Hey. . . you don't happen to have a girlfriend, do you?"

"O-Of course not! I'm only thirteen!"

"What you if you pretended you did?"

". . . . Huh?"

"When we set up camp tonight, you should tell Aisha you have a girlfriend. Just be casual about it. Something like, 'I hope my girlfriend won't miss me too much while we're out here.'"

"Why though?"

"For fun! I want to see how Aisha would react."

"But that's-"

"Come on! Just do it. It'll be fun!"

Chung starts to protest again but stops. He then starts to laugh a little. "Yeah," he finally says between laughs. "I guess it would be fun to see what she does."

I think this was when I discovered just how much I'd missed having another boy to talk to. Before today, all of my conversations had been with Rena about what we'd eat or where we'd go. Or Aisha yelling at me. Or sitting quietly listening to adults tell us what to do. I couldn't even remember how long it'd been since I was causing trouble in Ruben with the other boys. And suddenly I had a friend again. One of the best friends I'd ever have in my life.

Nighttime. It takes longer than usual to start the fire, mainly because all the trees around here are still alive and hard to burn. I eventually find a nice stash of dead wood, which I bring back to the campsite with Chung's help. I watch as Rena teaches him how to start a fire. I'm surprised he didn't know.

"And then you blow on it like this. . ."

"Ahhh. I see. And that keeps it from dying?"

"Mhm! Now you have to be careful not to blow on it too hard, but if you do it right-!"

On cue, the fire jumps out of the small pile of brush, burning away at the larger pieces of wood now.

"That's amazing! It looks so easy when you do it."

Rena grins. "Elves have magic. We're allowed to cheat a little when it comes to this."

The night passes on slowly. We have another garden salad for supper. I manage to choke down about a third of it this time. Soon enough, we're all sitting around the fire quietly, and Aisha starts to talk to Chung.

"So Chung," she says. "I never asked where you come from. Can you tell us about your hometown?"

"Eh? Ummm," he stammers. "It's very nice. My father runs a shipping business."

"That sounds nice! Where is it?"

"Just outside Velder. He takes me along whenever he needs to go someplace, so I get to travel a lot."

It's almost unnoticeable, but I catch a small glint in Rena's eyes when he says that.

"Well that's good!" Aisha bubbles. "What's your favorite part of traveling?"

"I guess. . ." Chung begins. "It would most likely be meeting new people. That's always fun." He briefly glances at me before continuing. He sighs a long, dreary, overdramatic sigh and says, "I hope my girlfriend doesn't miss me too much though. I haven't been able to see her in a long time."

The effect on Aisha is immediate. A small blush creeps onto her face and she starts to speak a bit faster.

"A-Aren't you younger than I am though? Are you sure you should have a girlfriend already?"

"Is it that strange?" Chung asks innocently.

"N-Not strange! Just. . . . . 'unexpected' is the word for it. H-How did you meet her anyway? This girl."

"Oh. . . . . I forget," Chung nonchalantly says. Tipping his head to the side and putting a finger on his cheek, he looks at her curiously. "Miss Aisha? Is everything all right?"

"Of course!" she answers, a little too loudly to be convincing. She adds, "Nothing's wrong," before looking down at the ground and messing around in the dirt with her shoe.

I have to keep pinching my leg to keep from laughing. I look over to the side and see Rena covering her mouth with her hand. She's probably trying to keep herself quiet too. After about ten more seconds, Aisha speaks again.

"Eh. . . . are you really sure it's a good idea to have a girlfriend when you're that young?"

Chung awkwardly scratches the back of his head. "I could break up with her if you want. It's not a big deal. I'll just get another one when I'm back home."

That did it. When I saw the shell-shocked expression on Aisha's face, I just couldn't keep it together anymore. I burst out laughing harder than I ever had before. Rena was giggling over in her little corner of the camp too. Aisha's emotions were a mix between crying, confusion, and anger.

"I'm sorry," Chung apologizes, giggling in between words. "It was Elsword's idea. He said it'd be funny."

"Y-Youuuuu!" Aisha yells, stomping towards me. I instinctively raise my hands to defend myself, but she stops just before reaching me and glares at me.

"You should've seen your face!" I yell, still completely unable to hold it in. Aisha's face twists to looking like she's going to start crying again, then she storms off, leaving the rest of us alone.

Once she regains control of herself, Rena says, "I guess that was a bit too much."

"It was totally worth it though," I reply cheerfully. "I still can't believe it worked that well."

"I should probably go get her," Chung mutters, looking a bit less pleased than he was before. Rena looks at him then stands up. "Don't worry about it," she says. "I'll get her in a minute."

"Thanks," Chung answered, looking a bit more relaxed. He was probably dreading having to face her again.

After a short pause, Rena asks, "Why don't you tell us about some of the places you've traveled, Chung? It'd be interesting hearing more about the outside world."

"Well," he answers. "Let's see. I've been to Hamel several times, mainly so my father could stock up on fish. The seafood there isn't actually that great, but if you preserve it for a while, it becomes amazing."

"What's your favorite dish there?"

He smiles. "Steamed piranha and crab. Not many places serve it, but it's the absolute best when you can find it. And sometimes they make this tea using parts from monsters which appear around there. I remember I used to have that a lot. Oh, and one time we even went as far as Sander! It's a really nice place. If it had walls, it'd make the perfect fortress. And they make this weird type of meat. . ."

We listened to Chung talk for nearly twenty minutes. But while he spoke about the places he'd traveled and what they were like, it didn't sound like a boring travel log. It was like someone who earnestly wished to go back to those places and experience it all again. Like he missed those places and whatever they'd signified back then. Like returning home was his goal.

"Well," Rena said after Chung was done talking. "I'd better go find Aisha now. It won't do us any good if she accidentally gets herself lost. Why don't you two start setting up beds for the night?"

"Sure," I reply. Rena nods and disappears into the forest.

"That was pretty awesome, you've gotta admit," I say to Chung once Rena's gone. "The prank, I mean."

"Yeah, it was," he answers. Looking back over his shoulder, he adds, "I hope she wasn't too mad though."

"Don't worry about it. She overreacts about everything."

Chung doesn't say anything back, but he doesn't seem very relieved. We finish making the beds before Rena and Aisha get back, and with nothing else to do, we decide to lie down in ours and look up at the stars.

"It looks pretty nice out tonight," Chung remarks.

"I guess so."

"You can see all the constellations really clearly."

I look over at him. "You stargaze?"

He nods. "Yeah. That's how sailors know where they're going on the sea. My father showed me a lot of them when we traveled." After a moment, he asks, "Do you?"

"Nah. I always fall asleep before looking up at them."

"Oh," he answers, sounding a little disappointed. "Want me to show you some?"

I think for a moment. With Aisha not around to rub it in my face, I'm a little curious about them. "Sure," I answer.

"All right!" he says excitedly. "Let's see. . . Oh! Do you see those three bright stars clumped together?"

I look around where he's pointing for a bit before finding them.

"Those three are part of the Phoenix. They're the beak. And then you can follow those stars down-"

"Oh," I realize, finally starting to see it. "And then those make up the wing. . ."

"Yeah! And there are those five for the tail, and then you just trace between the last tail star and the third beak star for the rest of it!"

"That's pretty cool," I remark. "And the really bright one is the eye?"

"Uh-huh."

"Neat."

We both lie down in silence again. I look up at the phoenix, watching it gaze down at me with solemnity befitting a star. It somewhat reminds me of home and my sister sternly watching me, but I forget about it and look away soon enough.

It doesn't take long for Rena to return. She calls out a greeting as she strolls into the camp, an unhappy-looking purple blob trailing behind. We're all settled in our beds quickly and are sleeping in minutes. During the night though, I hear a loud rustling beside me and look over. It's Chung. He's slowly getting out of his bed and walking towards the center of the camp.

_What's he doing? _ I wonder as I watch him. Whatever it is, he's apparently not used to sneaking around at night, as he's making a lot of noise.

"Aisha?" he finally calls after a while. He gets no response, but I now notice a small silhouette on the other side of the fire. Chung meekly sits down on the log opposite the figure and looks into his lap. Eventually, the girl on the other side speaks.

"What do you want?"

"I'm sorry about before. I didn't think it would make you upset."

Aisha's quiet, not sure how to respond. After a while she just says thanks. Figuring that's as far as he'd get, Chung walks away from the fire and goes to sleep.

* * *

_And so it ends. I don't have too much to say. I'll try and hurry out with the next chapter, even though I'm sure anyone following knows I'm terrible at that. But also, if you have any ideas you think would make this better, (or that you'd just like to see,) let me know. I could use some._

_Until next time~_


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